Royal Pains
by Kirawr
Summary: Rose disappeared years ago, nobody knew exactly where, or why, but it was something to do with the Royal Guardian Service. When Dimitri is invited to teach a seminar on combat at St Vladimir's, another guest guardian shocks him to his core. One Shot!


"You're in luck, class. We have some amazing guests with us today" The trainer addressed the room full of teenagers. Teenagers, not Dhampirs; because after the recent upheaval of "tradition," the school had allowed eager Moroi to join in with combat training, and if he was honest with himself, they weren't half bad.

Dimitri Belikov stood to the side, cross armed and stoic faced, with one other well known Dhampir. He was firmly in guardian mode. Though if he was honest with himself, he was always in guardian mode these days. Nothing outside of work really appealed to him, protecting Vasilisa and Christian was what his life consisted of.

Although Lissa had tried to set him up on dates and urged him to get out of the house more often, he never felt like there was anything out there for him any more. When Rose had been assigned something covert from Tatiana, and was told she would be taken away from Vasilisa, he was sure she would do everything in her power not to go, after all, the girls were never apart, all she had ever wanted to be was her guardian. Yet after a private viewing with the Queen, she was oddly reserved, quiet, as if searching inward. Eventually, she agreed, and left the very next day without a word to him.

That was the last time anybody had seen Roza. Rumours spread- she was fighting in the middle east, she was on assignment in Antarctica, she was an assassin in Europe. Eventually, the gossip settled on one simple fact. She must be dead. It had been too long without a peep from her, and no mission could take so long.

It burned at him inside, leaving him empty. He always thought that if she were away, it would be easier to get her out of his head, but she was always there, if only tip toeing at the sides of his consciousness. The idea that she was dead somehow made it worse. Occasionally he thought he could see her ghost, sauntering around. On the worst days, she was constantly at the fore-front of his mind, he could see her in the faces of people going by, hear her laughter and smell her perfume in the air.

He dreamt of her last night; it was one of the worse days. She was crying silently, looking at him with pleading eyes. He had told her that love fades, that _his _had. The next thing he knew she was on a stealth mission, there were enemies everywhere, and she was ducked behind a barrel, but stood up straight upon hearing his words, pain written all over her face. His voice brought the enemy's attention, and their fire. Bullets passed straight through him, but they struck her again and again until she collapsed, bleeding from a wound over her heart. He woke up in a sweat of panic. The last thing she had heard from him was his declaration of dismissal. The worst lie he'd ever told. He still remembered the look of hopelessness in her eyes as he told it.

It had been five years since she'd left and he'd said those awful things.

The other guardian went through his stances, teaching the kids some moves and using them as "opponents." He told them some stories, and eventually announced his departure. From outside, he could hear the door opened and the combat instructor look toward it hopefully, popping out of the door for a second.

When he returned, he had a grin of shock and elation on his face. "We have a real treat for us today, guys. Please welcome our final guest, Guardian Hathaway."

Dimitri's heart clenched. Janine. Rose's mother. Although she didn't look much like her daughter, the woman was like minded, strong headed and incredibly skilled, she reminded him of her. She also made him feel incredibly guilty. It was his fault that her daughter had disappeared off the face of the earth. Perhaps if he had told her how he really felt, she might still be here with them.

He steadied himself to see her, collecting his feelings. But nothing could have prepared him for what happened next.

A woman walked in, her incredibly long dark hair swishing with her hips. She wore a dark turtle necked long sleeved top and sported black skinny jeans. He didn't even have the brain power to fathom why she was wearing high heels as Rose strode into the room with a steady confidence. She hadn't glanced his way yet, still focused on the class in front of her. an easy smile upon her lips.

He thought for a moment that he might be seeing his ghosts again, but this was much too real, and in the past he only imagined her as the teenager she was, not the even more stunning adult she had transformed into. Her face was sharper, more defined. She had darker skin and her almond shaped eyes wore dark thick eyelashes. She was taller, not by too much, but she was definitely taller, her body was still slim but curvy, and she smiled at the class in a proud way, her eyes glistening with excitement.

He realised he had let his guardian mode down, and did his best to compose himself again. The rest of the class were still shell-shocked, all of them staring at her in awe.

"Hey guys!" her voice was smooth, and it was like silk honey to his ears. She even sounded older.

They all rushed to say hello back to her, asking questions and commenting on her presence, "It's an honour!" "Guardian Hathaway! Is it true you wrestled crocodiles in Australia?" "Oh my _gosh_!" "You're amazingly pretty!" "You're pretty amazing" "I've heard all about you!" "Please would you show us what you can do!?" "So you're not dead?" "Where have you been all this time?" "Willyoumarrymeplease?"

She laughed good naturedly, and finally looked up at him while shaking her head softly. Dimitri froze, and although she kept her poker face, he saw a shadow cross over her expression before turning back to the students with a smile.

"It was only one crocodile, but, I'll show you what I can do, and sorry, you're a little young for me." She beamed at them all.

Their trainer still looked totally gob-smacked that she was actually there, and grinned eagerly at Dimitri, "If you two would be sparring partners, I'm sure it would be an invaluable experience for the kids."

"Of course." Rose chimed in.

He wanted to laugh, scream and cry all at the same time, but they were professionals for the moment, and that would have to wait. They got into sparring positions, she pulled her hip length of hair into a messy bun and stood ready; her poise was excellent, but she didn't pause to take off the heels. They were going to hinder her, he though grimly, she should have known better.

He lunged, but she ducked with incredible speed and ease, weaving away from his attacks.

"Offence can be the best defence." She said clearly to the class as she moved away from Dimitri's latest attack as he had her against one of the walls, taking a flip over his shoulder after pushing herself from wall with a deft dexterity.

After a few more moves, one of the kids shouted out to them, "What if you can't escape? What if you need to fight your way out?"

"Then I suppose you would do something like this." she grinned, Dimitri went for her solar plexus, and in turn she deflected his strong blow with a swipe of her wrist, using his force against him and sending him stumbling forward for half a step before regaining himself. She took the moment and struck several nerves in quick succession, his arm drooped, and he fell on his knees.

The students gasped, Dimitri had taught a few lessons with them, and never once had he come close to being beaten. Even so, he knew that in the tight clothes she wore, she wouldn't have room for a stake, making her win void. If he were a Strigoi, he would still be alive. It was a rookie mistake, forgetting to account for a weapon. There are only so many ways to kill a Strigoi.

His confidence in this fact is why he was so shocked when he felt a cold sharp pressure on his back, behind his heart. He turned to her, one of her shoes was missing the heel, although she kept her balance perfectly. He didn't know why he didn't notice the sharp silver stakes she wore on her feet, it was a classic ploy of vulnerability.

She moved toward him so she was so very near his face, "Never underestimate your opponent." Before standing up straight before the class and answering a few of their questions. Though she deflected every answer to where she'd been, or who trained her so well. She was an amazing fighter before, but now it was beyond comprehension. During the fight, he saw glimpses of at least three types martial arts, as well as her ability to chi block. All wearing heels, no less.

They were asked to do more, their last fight lasted a while, and they were both covered in a layer of sweat, but she nodded, still breathing heavily. She pulled off her turtle neck, only wearing a sports top underneath- little more than a bra.

But the show of skin and her toned body wasn't what had the entire class, Dimitri included, with their jaws on the floor. Down the back of her neck, and webbing down her higher back were molnija marks, and at least six zvezda marks. She had more tattoos than he had ever seen on a Dhampir, not even taking her age into account.

After a few more hours of fighting, dodging and sweating, the class was let out, and the trainer scurried away toward the teachers lounge after thanking them both profusely, he could imagine the man rushing to tell every other teacher who had turned up to his seminar.

"Well, that's us! I better go see people." Rose made an attempt at nonchalance, heading toward the door in a hurry.

Before she had even taken two steps, he gripped her wrist, pinning her against the wall, much like earlier in their fight, but this time she didn't escape, she didn't even move. They were inches from one another, and he could feel his heart beat hammering against his chest.

Roza stared into his eyes, no, into his _soul. _"Why?" He asked huskily.

She glanced at the floor, looking ashamed, "Does it matter? I'm back."

Dimitri was trying to keep his voice controlled, keep out the tone of despair, anger, of desperation. "Why did you leave m- us?"

She drew her eyebrows together, "Lissa was always going to be fine with you guarding her, there's nobody I trust more. I checked up on her all the time." She said her words matter-of-factly, as if detached from the subject matter.

"Then you know she thought you were dead?" He growled.

Her captivating eyes widened, "She never thought that. I remember her thinking about other people believing it, but she never did. At least not really."

"Well not all of us had that luxury!" Dimitri almost yelled, his frustration getting the better of him, almost going to strike the wall before he catching himself.

There was a rise out of the old Rose at that, "I'm confused to why you would even care; surely concern _fades_ too!" Her tone was thick with her trademark bite.

Dimitri closed his eyes, inhaling deeply before letting out a slow breath. He actually worried for a moment that she might not be there when he opened his eyes. He could be dreaming. Or hallucinating.

But she was still there, staring at him from under her long dark eyelashes "My feelings have never faded, Roza." His voice was thick and low. "I'm sorry that I ever told you otherwise. I felt frightened. and so, so guilty. I couldn't look at you -perfection- without thinking of what I did to you. I was terrified that I might one day be like that again, that I might do those things to you. The very idea made me sick to my stomach. Please. _Please _forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive." She whispered.

"You lost all this time with Vasilisa because of what I said." His voice cracked.

She smiled inwardly, "I would never be that unprofessional."

His brows furrowed, "Then why did you agree to go?"

She bit her lip for a second, she took his other wrist and pulled him to the ground with her, where she sat cross legged, taking a deep breath before diving into her story, "The Queen said that if I entered the Royal Service Programme then I would be guaranteed the place as Lissa's official guardian for the rest of my life. It was a strict regime, there was no contact with the outside world for the first year, it was just training, eating, training, sleeping, and more training. I didn't realise how hard it was going to be, but that is what Tatiana was counting on, I think. She wanted me to fail so she could assign me to someone less important. But I passed with flying colours, I even completed classes that weren't on the curriculum.

After I left, I had a few missions to go on to officiate my degree, but there was always _one more. _The thing is, every mission was so important, and so exciting. It was hard to stand up to Tatiana when I kind of loved what I was doing. We were destroying covens before they could even get their feet off the ground! Taking down key political Strigoi and foiling plots that could have otherwise proved disastrous. It was such good experience, I knew that anything I learnt could one day save Lissa's life. How could I stop?

Eventually, I realised that I was the only one left in the programme that was there when I arrived. I'd completed my training, and really I was just delaying the inevitable." She looked him up and down, "This."

As Dimitri absorbed this new information, it all begun to make sense. Her agreement, her disappearance, her incredible fighting skills. But he was still hurt about something, "Why did you never get back in contact?"

She laughed a small laugh, "I thought that after a year, I would only make it harder; getting back in contact only to stay far away in places nobody was allowed to know about. Besides, so many people already thought I was dead, I thought that if people got used to the idea, it wouldn't be as hard if that ever actually happened. It was simpler to stay silent until I was done. I didn't really expect it to take so long, but there came a point when I had just been gone too long, and it verged on ridiculous just to pop a letter in the post. I had to just finish and get back here in person."

He had moved their hands so they were clasped tightly together. "I love you so much, and I missed you every day." He spoke quietly, staring into her eyes. He leant in slowly, their lips getting dangerously close until they touched. He kissed her perfect, full lips, she hooked her legs around his waist, and he pulled her closer. As they kissed, he felt amazing, whole. He poured his frustration, love, desire and joy into that kiss, and when they pulled back for air, he rested his forehead on hers. "Oh, my Rozamarie. Never leave us- _me_ again."


End file.
